“Tong’er, you go and take a look by yourself. I spoke to the abbot earlier, so you can pick a few blossoms home to decorate. I am rather dumb and a young girl won’t like what I pick. Tong’er, you better go pick by yourself.” Mdm Qin was considered kind towards Mo Xuetong in front of others. As long as one did not cross the line, she was considered to be a very good elder. She was laughing and seemed to be in a good mood. She looked at the plum blossoms around her and patted Mo Xuetong’s hand, gesturing for her to go and pick blossoms by herself.
The plum blossoms in Qingliang Temple was very precious. Not everyone who wanted to admire them could, much less pick a few blossoms.
“Aunt, will you go and take a look with me? You have such good taste.” Mo Xuetong tugged on Mdm Yu’s sleeves cutely. She looked as if she would not go if Mdm Yu did not accompany her.
“Alright alright, Tong’er, go by yourself. I won’t join in things that young girls do. Look at the blossoms that I picked earlier, they don’t go well together. I have disappointed you. You’d better go pick by yourself. Pick those that you like. I am old and I will wait here with grandaunt for you and rest for a while.” Mdm Yu flicked her handkerchief and laughed elegantly, helping Mdm Qin sit down in a pavilion by the side.
She was still worried that she could not find an excuse to leave. How would she accompany Mo Xuetong at a time like this? She looked at the maid beside her meaningfully and the maid nodded lightly.
“Aunt, how can your taste be bad? You don’t know how beautiful the blossoms you picked were. Tong’er would not be able to pick anything more beautiful than those. I shan’t go anywhere and sit here with you and grandaunt.” Mo Xuetong looked at Mdm Yu with a small smile. She did not move and looked as if she did not want to go. She pouted slightly, looking rather adorable.
Mdm Yu was a little anxious now that Mo Xuetong was not moving!
“You are a young girl, how can you be so lazy? Go, those beautiful flowers are not the ones you can usually see. There are a few ink plum blossoms over there. Don’t you like them? They are really precious and their color is rather similar to orchids. I heard that they were brought in from overseas and is really rare even in the capital.” Mdm Yu pointed at the plum blossom forest enthusiastically with a smile.
Mo Xuetong cocked her head and her eyes swirled with emotions. She looked at how Mdm Yu seemed to be smiling warmly, but her eyes were floating all over the place. She must be looking for someone. She looked in the direction of the plum blossom forest that Mdm Yu was pointing at and a smile appeared on her lips. She was so desperate, there must be someone hidden there.
“Aunt, you know Tong’er’s favorites so well. You are too kind to me. I shall borrow this tea from the temple to thank you for your care.” Mo Xuetong took a cup of tea from the tray a little monk held up by her side. Her handkerchief trailed after the cup as she brought it in front of Mdm Qin. Then, she brought another cup of tea up to Mdm Yu.
Mdm Yu was a little anxious when she saw that Mo Xuetong had no intentions of leaving. Mo Xuetong’s smile seemed especially jarring to her. She scolded in her heart that the girl was still such a show off until the end. She would see how the girl would show off later. She accepted the tea Mo Xuetong handed her and took a sip. She was just about to speak when a lady beside her discovered her and called out for her.
Mdm Yu ignored Mdm Qin then and headed over with her maids to speak with the ladies and also to get rid of Mo Xuetong.
Mdm Qin did not need Mo Xuetong to wait on her as well. She also encountered a few old madams and was chatting happily with them. She told Mo Xuetong to go and have fun by herself.
In the plum blossom forest, the madams and ladies who were draped in precious jewelry gathered and spoke with each other in groups of two and three. Mo Xuetong walked by a few plum blossom trees amongst the flowers. She used to stay at home and rarely went out when she was younger because her mother was ill and frail and she stayed at home to care for her mother. When her mother passed away, she fell ill. Then, the Mo family left Cloud City, leaving her behind alone. She did not know the other young ladies, so she walked among the flowers alone.
However, just as she was about to reach the ink plum blossoms, she suddenly stopped and did not walk any further. Instead, she turned and walked in the other direction. There were a few young ladies over there who were chatting with each other. She walked over and stood close to them, listening to them talk quietly. There was a sudden ruckus at the end of the quiet path that attracted everyone’s attention.
They could vaguely make out the voice of a man! The ladies all looked up and over in the direction of the voice curiously. However, they did not dare to head over there. As such, they brought their maids back to where the wives were. Mo Xuetong did not follow immediately but stood in the empty plum blossom forest silently.
“Miss, shall we go over there and take a look?” Mo Ye asked as she watched the crowd gather in the direction.
“We’ll go in a bit!” Mo Xuetong’s attention was on a pink plum blossom with a ring of black on it. The light ink color made the flower even more charming. It shook in the wind, looking shy and bashful.
The ruckus grew even louder. They saw a few people tugging back and forth.
“How dare this person barge into the ladies’ space. This is too much.” A few tough looking female servants held on to a pathetic looking man whose face was slightly red and swollen. They brought him to where the old madams gathered. There were a few plump and genial-looking old madams were chatting there. Mdm Qin was there as well.
Mdm Qin was seated on the main seat and was chatting with them. She frowned when she saw the female servants bringing the man over. She yelled impatiently, “This is where all the ladies are. How can you let a man in? Send him to the local authorities.”
“Eh, where did this person come from? Did he not know that this place is women-only today?” Mdm Yu shook out her handkerchief and went up to the crowd curiously. She glanced at the maid by her side. The maid was a smart one and she received the hidden message from her madam. She knew that this was an important point in ruining Mo Xuetong’s reputation. She took a few steps forward and pretended to tug on the man’s shirt angrily. His loose robe fell open immediately.
“Ah, what is that. Did he steal something?” A madam with sharp eyes saw a bright red object hidden in the man’s shirt when it was tugged open and could not help but yell loudly.
One could hear from her tone that she seemed rather delighted in the schadenfreude. The woman had seen clearly that the man was holding a woman’s belly-binder. However, she was too embarrassed to say it outright.
The faces of the old madams all turned cold. Mdm Qin glanced at a servant by her side who went up and tore open the man’s robe. A bright red colored belly-binder fell to the ground. The old madam picked it up and brought it to Mdm Qin. The old madams by the side all saw clearly that it was an exquisitely crafted belly-binder with a Chinese peony embroidered on it. The bright red colored was complimented by the bright green leaves. It was obvious from just a single glance that it could not belong to someone from an ordinary family. Furthermore, those who had sharp eyes could tell that the material was the famous satin from Cloud City.
Everyone’s expression grew weird immediately!
Many young ladies could not help but back away, avoiding the man who had been beaten up badly as if he was a venomous scorpion or snake. They felt as if their reputation would be ruined even if they said another word to him.
“He snuck into the temple and scared the women. Then, he stole something like this. Take this crazy man away and have the authorities deal with him.” Mdm Qin’s expression darkened and she spoke coldly when she saw the belly-binder in her hands.
“Old Madam, please spare me. I did not steal this. Tong…” He seemed to have suddenly regained his senses when he said that and he opened his mouth widely while defending himself, “The owner of this garment gave it to me as a token of our love. How could I have stolen this.”
“Isn’t he the scholar, Wang Yun, who used to work for Lord Mo? I heard that Lord Mo admired him very much during one period of time when he was in Cloud City. I don’t know what happened after that, but he was later thrown out of the Mo Manor.”
Mdm Yu yelled after she took two steps forward, pretending to take a closer look at the man. She only realized what she said later and hurriedly slap a hand to her mouth. She turned to ask the maid beside her somewhat awkwardly, “Where’s Tong’er? Ask her to come and take a look and she would definitely be able to identify this. She and the man used to stay together in the manor and she should know him well.”
Wang Yun was a staff in the Mo Manor and he had clearly mentioned the word “Tong” earlier. Mo Xuetong knew him well and then he was later thrown out of the Mo Manor for an unknown reason. Everyone was stunned. Could it be that Mo Huawen had discovered that he was having a relationship with his main daughter and had thrown him out?! This would make sense.
Mdm Qin felt that something was wrong and she glared at Mdm Yu. Then, she yelled at Wang Yun, “Rubbish, the young ladies are all noble and self-aware. How would they do something so shameless? Come, take him away to the authorities.”
“Old Madam, please check carefully. Tong’er did give me this belly-binder. If you don’t believe me, her name is embroidered on it. I have known Tong’er for very long and we love each other very much. We have sworn our love to each other under the moon and she took this off from her body and gave it to me herself. How could I have stolen this?” Wang Yun was a little anxious when he saw that the female servant was about to hit him and he spoke loudly as his eyes spun widely. He was truly afraid that he would be sent to the magistrate.
He had not been able to find work after being thrown out by Mo Huawen and did not even get to eat three meals a day. He had been considered a scholar but in the end, he was not even worthy of being a beggar. He did not find fault with himself but started to hate Mo Huawen instead. He had been hired by Mdm Chen just to spread the rumors that he had been together with Mo Xuetong.
“You bastard, who do you think you are? Look at yourself, how would Tong’er fall for you?” Mdm Yu pretended to scold him. However, she made it seem as if the Tong’er that Wang Yun spoke of was Mo Xuetong. Then, she secretly gestured for Wang Yun to continue speaking. She would do everything else.
She and Wang Yun had come to an agreement that she would give him 50 taels of silver once the matter is done. She would even let him have Mo Huawen’s daughter. Wang Yun had seen Mo Xuetong before. Even though she was still young then, he could tell that she would become a beauty. When he thought of how Mo Huawen would be shamed by the matter, he immediately continued.
“Even though I am not doing well now, I was only thrown out by Lord Mo because of Tong’er. I will definitely let Tong’er live well after she marries me. I will not let others look down on her. I will study hard on behalf of her and get a position for her.” Wang Yun’s eyes turned as he continued. He lifted his head, trying to look as if he actually had a backbone. A hint of an imposing manner appeared on his swollen face. However, it just made others feel disgusted when they saw his face.
“So it is a scene in which the rich young lady falls for the poor scholar. There is a good show to watch today. It even looks real.” Some people already started to mock the whole thing.
“I really wonder how the Mo family raise their daughters. They raised yet another slutty one who would do everything for a man. They’ve sacrificed the reputation of the entire Mo family. She’s really a troublesome one. No wonder Lord Mo left her here. I wonder who she would have a liaison with if he had brought her back to the capital.”
“She’s already moved into the Qin family and still managed to create such trouble. If she was my daughter, I would have sent her to become a nun in the temple, God forbid our family be shamed.”
